Jr. Scientist Tyrannosaurus

Fun

Repeat Play

Assembly & Instructions

Product Information

What It Is

Kids can explore the world of dinosaurs with the Jr. Scientist Tyrannosaurus kit. The kit comes with a 68-page color booklet with information about all dinosaurs (not just the T. Rex) and instructions and pieces for assembling a 15-inch Tyrannosaurus Rex replica skeleton. The T. Rex skeleton features a moving jaw and can be placed on the included display stand.

Kids can also make fossil replicas out of gypsum. The kit comes with a measuring cup, packets of calcium sulfate (plaster/gypsum), and six molds for making fossils of a Talbosaurus tooth, a Triceratops tooth, a Hadrosaurus tooth, an Iguanodon tooth, an Ammonite, and a Trilobite.

Is It Fun?

Kids can pretend to be paleontologists, discovering the world of dinosaurs through fossils and skeletons. This is a hands-on kit that will definitely appeal to kids with an interest in dinosaurs and the prehistoric world.

Who It’s For

The Jr. Scientist Tyrannosaurus kit is for ages 8 and up. Adult supervision is required.

What To Be Aware Of

The instructions were fairly easy to follow. Creating the fossils was a little more difficult than assembling the skeleton. Because the gypsum needs to harden in the molds, making a fossil will take just over two hours.

To make the fossils you will also need newspaper (to protect your work surface), tape, a spoon or clay working tool, a disposable cup, wooden chopsticks or a dowel, and instant coffee or India ink to color the finished fossils.

This set contains chemicals that may be harmful if misused. Read the cautions of the individual containers carefully. They are not to be used by children except under adult supervision.

All of the information in the booklet uses the metric system. So for U.S. kids who aren't familiar with kilometers and meters, they might need to ask an adult for help or look up conversions to miles and inches/feet online.

The instructions booklet also contains two manga-style comics: one about a scientist named Michael Faraday who discovered electromagnetic induction and one about how telephones and something called packet communications work. We're not really sure why these two comics are included in science kit about dinosaurs, but some kids might find them entertaining nonetheless. Although, the telephone/packet communications comic confused us, so we're not sure if 8-year-olds are going to understand it.